Kiffmeyer's
spending plan lacks detail, accountability

For immediate release
June 18, 2003
Contact: Jim Cousins, (612) 209-1897, jCousins@TripSplit.com

Minneapolis, MN – If we're going to spend more
than $30 million, then we'd better get our money's worth. That's the
reaction of FairVote Minnesota to Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer's
proposal for how to use funds coming to the state for election improvements.

"There's too little detail and even less accountability
in this plan," says FairVote Minnesota President Tony SolgÅ’rd. "Much
of the proposed spending is for new electronic voting machines, but questions
about the security of this equipment need to be addressed. The public
must respond if its concerns are to be heeded."

The funds are from the Help America Vote Act
("HAVA"), a law passed last year by the federal government in response
to the vote-counting troubles of the 2000 Presidential election. Several
billion dollars will flow to the states over the next few years to replace
outmoded punch-card and lever voting machines, empower disabled persons
to cast their votes without assistance, make sure no one is turned away
from the polls due to a failure of the voter registration system, and
allow each voter to cast an effective vote and correct the ballot in
case of an error.

Each state has the opportunity to write a plan
for how to use its share of the funds. After meeting the requirements
of the new law, states have considerable flexibility for how to use the
funds to improve elections. The Congress intended these plans to be developed
with broad public input with the recognition that there are diverse needs
to be met.

Minnesota is in a good position, as Secretary
Kiffmeyer notes in her plan: "Because of the progress we've already made,
and because of superior election administration structures we've had
in place for many years, compliance with HAVA will be easier for Minnesota
than for many states." Unfortunately, that advantage may be lost if Kiffmeyer's
plan remains in its current form. After a public review and comment period
running through July 8, the plan will be finalized and submitted to the
federal government.

"The Secretary's plan does little more than
recite HAVA's requirements and fails to say how the state will fulfill
those requirements," says FairVote's SolgÅ’rd. "With such a vague and
open-ended plan, there is simply no way to make sure the public is benefiting."

FairVote Minnesota would add specifics to the proposal
to assure election security and allow more options for local governments.
In a letter to Secretary Kiffmeyer, SolgÅ’rd wrote "The Plan should require
that all new electronic voting equipment produce a record of each ballot
for security and auditing purposes."

Concerns have been raised about the vulnerability
of touch-screen voting equipment to fraud or loss of results due to system
failure. A paper back-up copy of each ballot inspected by the voter would
assure that the results could be audited. Likewise, a paper optical-scan
ballot that could be altered or destroyed should have an electronic back
up copy available for verifying the results.

Interest is growing among local governments
in alternative voting systems such as limited, cumulative, and ranked
order voting methods used in over 200 jurisdictions in the United States.
In his letter to Kiffmeyer, SolgÅ’rd writes, "The Plan should require
that all new voting equipment acquired with [HAVA] payments has the flexibility
to support all four ballot types used in the United States," including
limited, cumulative, and ranked order voting methods.

"All available evidence says this technology
is available now at no additional cost if acquired with the original
purchase of the voting equipment," says SolgÅ’rd. "If we wait until we've
already bought the equipment to retrofit the technology, it would likely
be quite costly. Acquiring the security features in new equipment is
therefore a prudent use of public money."

The full text of FairVote Minnesota's letter
to Secretary Kiffmeyer is available at http://www.fairvotemn.org/articles/comment61703.html.
The Secretary's plan can be read at www.sos.state.mn.us/HAVA/HAVA.html.
The public is invited to comment on the plan by sending an email to HAVA.MN@state.mn.us or
by writing to the Secretary of State at 180 State Office Building, Saint
Paul Minnesota 55155.

Fair Vote Minnesota is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated
to raising public understanding about the effect that voting systems,
current and alternative, have on the quality of our democracy. The
group publishes the biennial study, "No-Contest Elections."